Hillary Copsey: Kind acts continue to brighten readers' days

You all have been busy being nice to people. I emptied out my email this week and found a wealth of random acts of kindness.

Joyce Thomas took her soon-to-be 93-year-old mother to the orchid show at the Martin County Fairgrounds a couple weekends ago. Her mother was enjoying the blooms from her wheelchair, when suddenly a vendor swooped down and placed a potted orchid in her hands. He gave her the plant for no reason other than to brighten her day — which it did.

"We didn't get his name, but hope he reads this, and knows how much his gesture was appreciated," Thomas wrote.

Donna Hosang, a longtime Stuart News subscriber, discovered several years ago that a neighbor on a fixed income couldn't buy the newspaper. Everyday Hosang shares her copy — and the neighbor shares with a friend who is battling cancer.

"It feels good to know that I am able to brighten someone's day by sharing the paper rather than immediately throwing it into the recycle bin," Hosang wrote.

Carol Smith and her husband make it a point to be kind to the men and women who have served our country.

"When we see a veteran, no matter which war, we shake their hand if possible," Smith wrote. "But if not, we say to each of them, ‘Thank you for your service.'

And finally, just a smile sparked an exchange of kindness at Panera last week.

Hank Berns of Palm City has had a rough three years: three hip operations within a 10-month period, complication from a hip replacement, active Crohn's disease, back pain, neuropathy and kidney stones. After lab work done to prepare for surgery to remove the kidney stones, he and his wife, Barbara, had breakfast at Panera.

"As we were leaving ... he was behind me bent over from back pain and shuffling along with his walker as each step was painful for him," Barbara Berns wrote.

In the parking lot, a woman came up to the Berns' car. She told them how much she appreciated the smile Hank Berns had given her despite his obvious pain.

"In a few words, she mentioned that she was having problems with her daughter, but when she saw Hank's smile, she realized how insignificant they must look to the Lord above," Barbara Berns wrote. "This woman thanked my husband for his act of kindness, while we thanked her for her acknowledgment of his gesture.

"It is so easy to make fellow human beings happy through acts of kindness."